Finding the Art In Me

I’ve always been a writer of sorts.  From the time I was a little girl until my present late 30-somethingness I’ve always enjoyed writing.  It comes somewhat easily.  Though lately the words have been harder to find but I think that is mostly because the things I’d love to talk to you about I can’t at the moment.

I always wrote little stories.  One, a short story about a guy who on a dare dressed as a woman & entered a beauty pageant.  I was also working on the next great American novel when I was in high school.  I don’t remember much of that story except it opened around Christmas and the title was two words separated by a semi-colon from the last sentence of the book.  Which was obviously written before I finished it.  I don’t know whatever happened to these manuscripts.  They probably ended up in the bottom of a trash pile at the dump (this was long before consumer recycling…don’t gasp at me).

I have never considered myself artistic.  I have trouble drawing straight lines and my lack of depth perception makes drawing and painting a hard learned task.  In jr. high we had a couple of art classes.  By a couple I mean two one-hour sessions out of the whole two years I was in jr. high.  I drew a Samoyed, which now that I’m thinking I may have started it out by tracing the page.  A few years later I drew a plant in a hanging pot, which was probably my best freehand.  That too has been lost.

My “artistic” side has always been in a writing format.  From short stories to poetry to what I write here.  And even all this has changed since I was little.  I don’t write as much poetry as I used to and I’m relearning how to be visually expressive when writing posts and the few short stories I’ve tried my hand at again.

But recently I’ve discovered a part of me that enjoys doing art.  A couple years ago I’d read a post by Mandy that prompted me to go out and buy paint & brushes & canvases.  I’d never painted outside of walls and watercolors with children.  Since February I’ve been painting more.  I’m trying to draw.  To move past the, “I can’t do this, I don’t have any talent” and just allow myself to have fun.  I try my best not to let my need for perfection dictate what my art looks like.  Sometimes a misspelled word or paint in the wrong place works.

I’ve greatly enjoyed exploring this part of myself I didn’t know was there.  I can’t wait to learn more.  More in skill and about this part of me.

Have you ever tried something you never felt particularly skilled at, but then you found yourself falling in love with it?